Chuck Gipp, Deputy Director, Iowa DNR, said a few words at a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a shoreline restoration project at Gray's Lake on May 24, 2012.

Written by

Art Cullen

Gov. Terry Branstad stirred up a hornet's nest when he suggested gutting the lake restoration fund from $6 million this year to just $1 million for the next fiscal year. Since the Storm Lake Times was one of the few media outlets that follow the story, the governor probably thought he could shift a few million from lakes to the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship without too many people raising a fuss.

Our friends at The Des Moines Register now have latched onto the issue and are not letting go. The Register carried lead editorials on Sunday and Monday urging legislators to make a real ...